Updated August 15, 2023
Fresh air is good, and so is a mild temperature in the home. An open window allows fresh air to come inside, and your air conditioning system keeps the house cool. Why not open a window and run the air conditioner at the same time? Obviously, there’s a flaw in this plan. You’ll lose more than you gain if you run the AC while a window is open.
Letting in Hot and Humid Air
Opening a window might not be the best strategy on a hot day. All that extra heat and humidity will come inside the home and undermine the comfort level. Of course, running the air conditioner will help to address the problem but at a great cost. This is literally true. Your energy consumption will increase drastically, and your utility bill will inevitably go up as the air conditioner works harder and harder to bring down the temperature.
Putting a Strain on the System
The open window means that the system has to work a lot harder to cool down the home. In a way, an HVAC system shares some similarities with a car. If you put 100,000 miles on a car, you can expect parts to wear out and repair bills to pile up. Straining the HVAC system by forcing it to battle with an open window to cool your home won’t be kind to its components. Repairs may become unavoidable as parts wear out. You’ll also be shortening the system’s overall lifespan. When residents of Bellevue and nearby parts of Nebraska need any repairs to their AC, Apollo Heating & Air Conditioning is ready to assist. We also perform maintenance to help customers avoid those repairs.
Far Less Energy Efficiency
Any plans to improve energy efficiency will surely suffer. Just as warm air comes into the home, cold air goes out. Cool air exits the vents and travels around the house, and when it reaches the open window, it’s headed outside. From an energy-efficiency perspective, there is nothing beneficial to that approach.
